Germany Liquidates Over 90% Of Bitcoin Holdings, Retains Only $284 Million
12 July 2024 - 5:00PM
NEWSBTC
After a month-long period of increased selling pressure, the German
government has nearly exhausted its Bitcoin treasury, selling over
90% of its BTC seized in January in the country’s largest Bitcoin
seizure, worth over $2.1 billion. With less than $300 million
worth of BTC remaining, this signals the end of a significant
sell-off period, with expectations of further price appreciation
for the largest cryptocurrency on the market. 9.9% Of Seized BTC
Remains On-chain data from market intelligence firm Arkham reveals
the German government’s selling activity on Thursday, showing that
the German police wallet initially sold 2,375 BTC ($137.87 million)
to exchanges including Kraken, Bitstamp, and Coinbase.
Subsequently, an additional 3,250 BTC ($191.02 million) was sent to
exchanges for selling purposes and over-the-counter (OTC) deals,
according to the data. The German government recently
transferred 5,000 BTC ($286.44 million) to Flow Traders, Coinbase,
Kraken, Bitstamp, 139Po and bc1qu. They have now transferred 10,627
BTC ($615.33 million) to market makers and exchanges on Thursday
alone. Related Reading: Analyst Predicts Major Gains for These
Altcoins But Warn Against XRP and ADA With only 4,925 BTC
remaining, Arkham data shows that the German government currently
holds 9.9% of the original 50,000 BTC seized from Movie2k in
January, worth just over $284 million at the current BTC price of
$57,000. Movie2k, a movie streaming website, was found guilty
of money laundering and other illegal activities by the state of
Saxony in Germany. Our sister site Bitcoinist reported on
Wednesday that Dr. Lennart Ante, co-founder of the German-based
blockchain research lab, said the Saxon government is obligated to
sell the confiscated bitcoin as per standard procedure, even though
lawmakers such as Joana Cotar have urged the country’s legislative
chamber to keep the seized BTC. Nonetheless, Dr. Ante further
clarified that the general prosecutor’s office of Saxony is
responsible for liquidating the confiscated BTC assets as per
“standard procedure.” Bitcoin Price Analysis Currently trading
above $57,400, the good news is that the BTC price has
consolidated above this level for the past few days, signaling
a sense of stability in the market ahead of a potential renewed
bullish move higher to tackle key resistance levels. This starkly
contrasts last week’s price action, when Bitcoin saw violent price
swings in both directions as selling pressure from the German
government and uncertainty surrounding the payments from defunct
exchange Mt. Gox flooded the market. Related Reading: Binance
Bought A Whooping 41,000 BTC During The Dip: Did They Save The
Bitcoin Market? In the short term, the Bitcoin price will have to
face the $58,200 resistance wall, which has proven to be a hard nut
to crack for the largest cryptocurrency on the market for the past
6 days, being unable to surpass this level to test the $60,200
obstacle subsequently. Ultimately, it remains to be seen when
the German government will end its Bitcoin sell-off and deplete its
entire Bitcoin treasury and how BTC’s price will react as the daily
selling pressure experienced for the past month subsides.
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